Two killed in head-on crash on Thruway

Tuesday

Aug 12, 2014 at 9:27 PMAug 12, 2014 at 9:29 PM

SUFFERN — An off-duty New York City police officer driving the wrong way on the state Thruway crashed head-on into another vehicle Tuesday, killing both drivers, police said.The two vehicles collided in Suffern, north of New York City, just before 7 a.m., state police said.Off-duty NYPD officer Richard Christopher, 32, of Suffern, was driving a blue pickup truck southbound in the northbound lanes when he crashed into an SUV driven by 59-year-old James DeVito, of Airmont, they said.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

SUFFERN — An off-duty New York City police officer driving the wrong way on the state Thruway crashed head-on into another vehicle Tuesday, killing both drivers, police said.The two vehicles collided in Suffern, north of New York City, just before 7 a.m., state police said.Off-duty NYPD officer Richard Christopher, 32, of Suffern, was driving a blue pickup truck southbound in the northbound lanes when he crashed into an SUV driven by 59-year-old James DeVito, of Airmont, they said.Both drivers were pronounced dead at the scene. There were no passengers.“We believe that area of the Thruway is clearly marked,” Thruway Authority executive director Thomas Madison said at a news conference later Tuesday. Still, he added, “the wrong-way aspect of this accident is something we take very seriously.” Ray Florida, head of Rockland Paramedic Services, told The Journal News that both drivers had air bags and seatbelts, but they weren't enough to save the men. “You can't survive that kind of damage,” he said.The speed limit on that stretch of the Thruway is 65 mph.The northbound side of the Thruway was closed for several hours while police investigated.There have been at least two other wrong-way crashes on suburban roads in recent weeks. Five years ago, eight people, including four children, were killed in a wrong-way crash on the Taconic Parkway.In that case, Diane Schuler was driving her red minivan home from a weekend camping trip to Parksville in Sullivan County. An autopsy found Schuler, who drove past Do Not Enter signs onto the Taconic, was intoxicated and had been smoking marijuana.